The Interview
by Asterie-Smiles
Summary: A magazine article about Seth Cohen following the release of his first novel. Implied slash, SethRyan


**The Interview  
by S-Star**

**Fandom:** The O.C.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters in the O.C. aren't mine. I don't think they'd be suitable for primetime TV if they did the things I imagine...  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Pairing: **Seth/Ryan, discussion of past Seth/Summer  
**Summary: **A magazine article about Seth Cohen following the release of his first novel. Implied slash, Seth/Ryan.  
**Beta: **Minnow, who also came up with the headline.  
**AN: **This is my first completed O.C. fic, although I have at least 17 in progress (that may never be finished). It's inspired by a line from an interview I read with Fearne Cotton in a weekend newspaper supplement, and is probably proof that I will never become a journalist.  
I also want to apologise in advance for any British-isms: this has been checked to make sure it's American enough, so any errors can be blamed on me alone. And on my parents for raising me in England.

Written for **The OC Season 4 Advent Challenge** on LJ, with the keywords blue, curve, melancholy, maelstrom and whip.

**  
The Interview**

_**  
Riviera Magazine, January 2015 **_

_The Write Guy: Success and Seth Cohen  
_by Linda Dorrington

When I first arrive at Seth Cohen's house, I'm very impressed: compared to others in Newport Beach, it seems fairly understated, but beautiful nonetheless, which makes me wonder how wise it was for him to offer to do our interview here.

'I know, I'm probably gonna end up with stalkers throwing themselves over the gates. But the people here are all really hot, so I'm pretty okay with that whole concept.' He laughs. 'Besides, where else in this town would you wanna go?'

Seth seems to have a love-hate relationship with Orange County: although he insists it's always been his dream to move to the East Coast, he jetted straight back to California after graduating from prestigious art school RISD, claiming he didn't miss home, he just wanted to mooch off his parents for a few more years.

Comic-book fans may remember his satirical creation _Atomic County_ – rumoured to be making its cartoon debut later this year – which took many of Newport's social stereotypes to a new level...and gave them superpowers.

'Ah, the graphic novel -- I never shoulda traded it,' he says wistfully. 'That was very stupid. Can you imagine how much I woulda earned in royalties?'

He explains that he surrendered all rights to _Atomic County_ to a friend, in exchange for a girl, which, apparently, isn't as callous as it sounds. 'Dude, she told us to toss a coin to decide which of us went to Prom with her. Callous isn't even an issue. In fact, she was probably relieved.'

It takes a moment to decide whether Seth is being sarcastic or sincere, and he admits that even he can't tell a lot of the time. 'But either way, the trade was for the best: she was convinced I loved the comic more than her.' And did he? 'It may be wisest for me not to answer that question, because I know she'll be reading this, and she suffers from rage blackouts. It's scary.'

The 'she' in question is Summer Roberts, the celebrity stylist who was famously 'discovered' in a Los Angeles department store when she ordered Scarlett Johansson to put down her shopping and try a different look, before picking the actress out a whole new wardrobe. Summer freely and proudly admits to being the woman behind _Atomic County_'s most popular character, Little Miss Vixen, and Seth clearly thinks very highly of her, when he's not focusing on the rage blackouts.

'I was in love with Summer from, like, first-grade: I even named my boat after her, the Summer Breeze, and made this plan to sail to Tahiti with her. The girl, not the boat. Of course, I was totally lost when she actually learned my name and started to like me back, but we figured it out and we were pretty happy when I wasn't lying to her and she wasn't threatening to stab me.'

So what happened? Seth's lips curve into a wistful smile.

'Well, she's kinda like the girl in _Legally Blonde_, y'know? Smart and streetwise and shallow in a good way. And engaged to one of her old TAs, who she's got totally whipped. But at college, I guess I just couldn't keep up with her. I'm not good with setbacks or obstacles or any form of challenge, and she's just way stronger. Besides, we both found other people, and high school romances can't be expected to last forever. She's still one of my favourite people, though.' His voice drops to a whisper. 'Can you make sure you print that bit? Rage blackouts, remember? But, yeah. She still calls me up all the time and tells me what a loser I am, trying to make me stay real at these giddy heights of fame I'm reaching. She's actually just like my mom, only shorter and more vicious. Wait, sorry, don't print that. Sometimes I don't know when to shut up.'

'Actually, he never knows when to shut up.' A handsome blond man with striking blue eyes walks into the room and shakes my hand. 'Ryan Atwood. Can I get you anything to drink, since Seth seems to have forgotten his manners?'

'Shut up, dude, you're ruining my image.'

'Since when did you have an image?'

'Since never, because you had to walk in and shatter my sparkling new reputation.'

Their easy camaraderie comes from knowing each other for years. 'Way too long,' Seth says. 'I'd trade him in for a newer model, but it's cool to have someone around you can always beat at video games.'

I smile as Ryan ruffles Seth's hair – despite loud complaints – and excuses himself. Seth blushes. 'Don't even ask.'

I wasn't going to: Ryan Atwood, the architect who designed the town's new art gallery, remains a mystery, giving all credit for the project to the Newport Group. In fact, the main source of information on him is probably _Atomic County_, where his counterpart, Kid Chino, is a tough boy from the wrong side of the tracks who is taken in by the Ironist's family: the Ironist being Seth himself. However, this Ryan, who walks back through the room carrying a mug of coffee and wearing a shirt and tie instead of the character's signature wife-beater, seems far more mellow.

'I think he could still beat up water-polo players, though,' Seth muses. 'Except instead of Kid Chino he'd have to be Man Chino or something. I dunno.'

Ryan, like Summer, has inspired a character in Seth's new novel, the dedication of which reads, intriguingly, 'To Summer, Ryan, and PS2, not necessarily in that order.' The book itself is by no means as casual as this, though: Seth describes it as 'a maelstrom of pain and angst'.

_Cosmo Girl_ is the story of a troubled teenager in a town not unlike Newport. I ask whether the title has any connection to the character of the same name in _Atomic County_.

'Yeah. Yeah, she's based on the same person. I mean, resemblance to any persons, real or fictitious, is all in your head, and events have been rearranged, settings changed and everything, but she's dead, so I think the legal lines are blurred. At least, I hope they are.'

The real Cosmo Girl is Marissa Cooper, who was tragically killed in a car accident following her graduation from Newport's Harbor School, which Seth, Ryan, and Summer also attended. The novel is set in New York, far from Seth's California home, and even though he used Marissa as the basis for the character of Cassie (with permission from her mother, Julie Cooper-Nichol-Roberts, arguably the most powerful woman in Orange County), he insists that he's changed her circumstances beyond all recognition.

'I mean, the setting's half the story,' he explains. 'A lot of stuff happened to Marissa just because she was a dysfunctional rich girl in Newport Beach, but it's different for Cassie. She's got different friends, a different family, and a whole bunch of issues because of that. Like the whole drugs thing; there aren't many people here who get in as deep as she does.'

He's talking about Cassie's coke habit, one of the more controversial aspects of the novel, which has been criticised by some reviewers, though Seth defends it adamantly. 'I was pretty pissed when they didn't like it, because I wanted to do something harder, actually, like experiment with the whole heroin/morphine junky thing, but Manhattan private school seemed more _Cruel Intentions_ than William Burroughs.'

'Which is probably a good thing,' Ryan interjects. 'He still hasn't got over that awkward teenage Kerouac/Burroughs phase.'

'Thanks, man. You know, every time I let him see the manuscript he insulted it? I know he doesn't like to be reminded of the whole Marissa thing, even though the novel is completely different and in no way makes me a target for lawsuits, so he really didn't wanna read it at first. But he ended up giving me some great material for the emotional content. He just felt so bad about her, and pretty angry too...' Seth's voice tails off and he looks almost melancholy. 'Okay, so I felt kinda guilty about making my best friend suffer to help me make money, but I managed to persuade him, and it was totally worth it.' There's an evil glint in his eye.

It's difficult not to ask more about Seth's relationship with Ryan: Seth claims they are 'best friends', but that doesn't really justify the fact that for Seth's twenty-sixth birthday last year, Ryan designed and commissioned the building of this beautiful house, where they now live. Unable to resist, I tentatively ask Seth whether he and Ryan are together.

'It depends what you mean by together. I mean, we've been best friends for, like, ten years, and yeah, we live together, but this house has at least three bedrooms...' He leaves it hanging, and I impatiently ask whether they are romantically involved.

Seth leans forward in his seat. 'Well, I guess we've got kinda a Starsky and Hutch thing going on – except the blond was the tall one in Starsky and Hutch. I mean, partnership, solidarity...'

I'm about to ask exactly how that answers my question when Ryan interrupts, coming through the door with an empty coffee cup in his hand.

'Did you mention the part where you're convinced they were sleeping together the whole time? Even when Hutch was married?'

'I was getting to it. Besides, you can't mock me, because there is evidence, dude, evidence. Someone wrote an essay on it! It's totally obvious.'

Ryan shakes his head and gives me an apologetic smile. 'Are you staying for dinner, Miss Dorrington?'

I tell him to call me Linda, and decline.

'Are you sure?' asks Seth. 'Because I'm grilling swordfish, and that's my specialty.'

'And by specialty, he means the only think he ever learned to cook.'

They walk me to the hall and I can't help asking, 'So, you never said, were they?' Seth looks blank, and I clarify. 'Were they sleeping together all along?'

'Oh, _that_ were they.' Seth looks at Ryan and ostentatiously puts an arm around his waist. 'What do you think?'

Ryan rolls his eyes and mutters something involving the word 'corny', but Seth ignores him and winks at me. 'You will make me sound smart and sophisticated, won't you? And edit some of the bits that might make Summer attack me with a sharp object?'

I nod, trying not to smile, and shut the door behind me as Ryan says, 'I don't think that's possible,' and Seth pokes him hard in the ribs. I manage to stop myself listening to them through the door, and wish I'd accepted that dinner invitation.

_Seth Cohen's novel Cosmo Girl is available now from Argent Press, RRP $15.99 _

**End**


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